Underground pipe stripper



17m 24, E956 E. H. KossA UNDERGROUND PIPE STRIPPER Filed March .30, 1953 i 5 INVENTOR.

BY 'y Tm/ UNDERGROUNB PEPE TRHPPER Edwin H. Kassa, Beeville, Tex., assigner of five per cent to Robert D. Nogueira, Beeviile, Tex.

Application March 30, 1953, Serial No. 345,4tl2 1 Claim. (Ci. 37--1) This invention relates generally to a device for unearthing and exposing pipe lines, and has for its principal object the removal of buried pipe lines without necessitating the removal of overlying earth.

An important object of this invention is to provide a device for rapidly and easily exposing or unearthing buried pipe lines so that the same may be readily and quickly removed.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a vertical section through the ground showing the device in operation;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken through the device showing details of its construction;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section taken substantially along the plane of section line 3 3 of Figure 2 showing details of construction of the earth spreading shoe;

Figure 4 is another transverse section taken substantially along the plane of section line 4-4 of Figure 2 showing the end bracket construction; and

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken substantially along the plane of section line 5-5 of Figure 2 showing details of construction of the pulling bar.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 1, reference numeral indicates generally a pipe line which is shown as buried and which is provided with a coupling member any event, requiring considerable time and effort to eX- pose the pipe by conventional digging methods.

To enable such buried pipe lines to be rapidly and easily exposed for removal, the elongated tubular sleeve 16 is slipped over an end of the pipe which has been exposed for this purpose and the tubular member is pulled longitudinally along the pipe beneath the surface of the ground through the medium of the pulling bar 18 whose free end is attached to a suitable source of pulling power, such as a winch, tractor or the like. The trailing end of the sleeve is provided with an upwardly projecting shoe 20 which spreads the earth over the pipe and throws the same to one side so that the pipe can subsequently be removed with a minimum of effort.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 2-5, it will be seen that the tubular sleeve is provided adjacent its pulled end with a guide member 22 threaded thereon which is provided with a iiared mouth opening 24 for allowing the assembly to easily slide over radial projections on the pipe such as the coupling member 12 previously described. A pair of spaced ears 26 are secured to the sleeve adjacent this end and receive therebetween a pivot bolt E 28 connecting one end of the pulling bar 18 between the brackets, the bar being provided with a knife edge 29 so that it may be easily puiled through the ground.

The other end of the sleeve is provided with the previously described shoe assembly which comprises a longitudinally folded plate presenting a pair of trapezoidal wings 34B whose opposite side edges 32 and 34 are disposed in upwardly diverging relation with respect to the sleeve, the narrowest end of the shoe being suitably secured to the outer surface of the sleeve, the shoe is sloped away from the pulled end of the sleeve so that it will direct the earth overlying the pipe in an upward and outward direction, thus exposing the pipe. The shoe may be suitabsolute rigidity of this assembly.

The pulled end of the stripper sleeve is provided with a plurality of diamond shaped openings 40 which are arranged in diametrically opposed pairs and which are provided for the purpose of allowing passage of dirt and rocks out of the stripper sleeve or barrel to prevent binding between the sleeve and the pipe upon which it is sliding. A rectangular vent opening 42 is provided medially of the stripper barrel along its upper surface and this vent serves also to prevent jambing of dirt, rocks or other foreign material between the sleeve and the pipe.

In operation, it will be noted that the puller blade or bar 18 slices through the soil and any obstructing vegetation and serves to allow the shoe to more eiciently perform its earth spreading and exposing operation while the vent insures a minimum of frictional loss between the sleeve and the pipe over which it is being pulled. The device utilized to impart pulling power to the free end of the puller bar 18 may be any suitable mechanism but in any event a cable and hook arrangement 44 and 46 should be employed for maximum etliciency since this will allow the puller blade to properly align itself with respect to the ground surface and the pulling device so as to exert a maximum of thrust longitudinally of the pipe being uncovered.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since earth out of said sleeve to be spread by said shoe, and means attached to the front end of the shoe for pulling the same.

References Cited inthe le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,358,495 Pace Sept. 19, 1944 2,386,615 Knapp Oct. 9, 1945 2,396,849 Hebert Mar. 19, 1946 2,414,994 Wright Jan. 28, 1947 2,470,255 Marks et al May 17, 1949 

